Work has begun, as a result of campaigners fight, on the reconstruction of a beloved pub the Carlton Tavern, Maida Vale which was knocked down illegally by its owners.
Ham and High reports:
The owners of the Carlton Tavern in Maida Vale sparked fury both locally and nationally when they demolished the interwar pub in April 2015, with no prior warning or permission to do so, and shortly before Historic England was likely to decide to list the building.
In June of that year, Westminster Council ordered the site’s freeholders to rebuild the pub brick-for-brick. Since then, activists have demanded that reconstruction begin – and work is now, at last, underway. Since the beginning of last week, the architects appointed by the owners have been clearing the rubble and debris that has occupied the site since the Carlton Tavern’s abrupt demise. Reconstruction of the pub in facsimile is expected to start once the site is cleared.
Council planning officer Lee Douglas wrote in a letter to councilors:
‘Activity at the site will be monitored by the City Council’s planning enforcement team to ensure the requirements of the enforcement notice are complied with.’
Owners CLTX have attracted further opprobrium locally regarding another landmark former pub in the area, the Chippenham in Maida Hill, which the developers are understood also to own. Since being bought in 2015, the building has undergone a notable decline, with steel shutters installed on the ground-floor façade and a pane of glass falling from an upper-floor window. Last month Westminster Council issued a planning enforcement order requiring the building’s freeholders to arrest the decline, marking a victory for local campaigners; CLTX remain unavailable for comment.
Daniel Astaire, Westminster City Council cabinet member for planning said: ‘This is a big step in our campaign to undo the damage caused by the illegal demolition of the Carlton Tavern. Westminster City Council has stood side-by-side with residents to demand that this pub be rebuilt brick-by-brick and I look forward to seeing the Carlton Tavern standing once again. Today is a just reward for the work of all the local campaigners who have fought for this building to be restored. I hope our campaign sends a clear message to developers across the country that they cannot ride roughshod over the views of local communities.’
For more background see the IHBC NewsBlogs
